Idolatrous Iconography

Is it possible to turn on the TV today without being told how wonderful Barack Obama is? Apparently not, for on Wednesday’s American Idol – yes, the nation’s premier musical competition – the Commander-in-Chief was gushed and fawned over like a rock star (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

American Idol just got the memo a little late. You will probably not see very many ESPN pre-game shows for any collegiate athletic event without the ubiquitous Obama-Head being waved above the crowd of delirious fans. We actually are told by RealClearPolitics that “Obama’s Final Four picks are nearly all schools in swing states.” I’m relieved to no end that our Commander-In-Chief doesn’t fill out an NCAA March Madness bracket out in some onagerious fashion.

For those who truly wondered, The Ace of Spades Blog has discovered Obama’s 57-Star version of Old Glory. With no viable way of subdividing 57 into anything other than a 3X19 array, they just settled for the grand visage of His Majesty’s Head. See how easy these things get when you’re a legend in your own mind?

All of this idolatrous iconography stands resplendent against a darkly hued background of demonization towards President Barack Obama’s opposition. Chris Matthews calls Obama’s potential GOP opponents three cultists in the video diatribe below.

One can only imagine what the producers at American Idol would have done “in honor” of this year’s GOP candidates. Springtime For Hitler is probably nicer than what Will.i.am would have had the contestants singing about Senator Santorum.

But the unearned adulation of Barack Obama is juxtaposed against the hard, anti-conservative bigotry we get from the entertainers the way heads and tails are appositional on a coin. The ignorant, the worshippers of the here-and-now, the desperate Hollywood Hollow in quest for that elusive sixteenth minute of fame all bow before their Baal. But as King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes (1:2), “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

For those who believe not, the secular version of this admonishment is provided in the eloquent, spare, lament of Poet, Wallace Stevens.

Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Let us hope that the vast majority of Americans will ignore and marginalize the false idolization of President Barack Obama. His office is to be respected; his person has undergone no apotheosis. As both King Solomon and Wallace Stevens pointed so beautifully, it just is not for long. In the end, the wisest amongst us will accept King Solomon’s closing admonishment in Ecclesiastes (12:13-14):

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Let’s hope that isn’t more than we can expect from a population that tunes in to see their President lionized on American Idol.